


Stay With Me

by Spaghettibopp



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project, Love Live! Sunshine!!
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-19
Updated: 2017-05-19
Packaged: 2018-11-02 16:53:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10948722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spaghettibopp/pseuds/Spaghettibopp
Summary: Kanan had wanted the best for Mari when she broke off the idol group. She hadn't known what that decision would lead to.





	Stay With Me

Kanan had just wanted what was best for her. She hadn’t wanted that rare opportunity to be wasted for some dumb fantasy they played out like children. Being a school idol would never go anywhere, she knew that. It was a fun distraction from their lives, something they could work hard at together. But that’s all it was. No chance at Love Live was going to change that.

What would affect their lives after it was all said and done, however, would be the chance to study abroad, a chance that Mari had been given. Thinking on it, Kanan was sure that she herself would have gone. Heck, Dia would’ve jumped at the opportunity to improve her education like that. But no, Mari had wanted to stay. Mari had needed convincing. Mari had taken the late plane out, and when it started to fly away, Mari had been sitting in first class.

Had she been waving? Was she hoping one of them would go out and take back what they had said, begging her to stay?

The three of them were so close, how could she let one slip away? How could she say that she didn’t want to be a school idol anymore and how could she face everyone knowing what had happened? How, when Dia snuck in, could she hold the remaining friend and say that things were okay? What was it even like for the other girl, going through that same pain but with a sister she had to be strong for? And not just a sister, but the whole school looked up to her as student council president. It was because of Kanan that Mari was gone. Between the two of them, shouldn’t it be her to go out and take responsibility?

But instead, she just … ran. She ran her way around the town and across the beach, and when her legs couldn’t take her farther, she went home. She worked at the shop, she took Chika and You out to dive, she filled her schedule with things to do so she wouldn’t have to look, she wouldn’t have to go back….

Yet every day she found the time to. No matter how hard she pushed herself, how focused she tried to be, she was always taken back to the one place she didn’t want to go.

“And Chika swore this new girl tried to jump right into the ocean.” She chuckled, yet the humor faded quickly. Her fingers brushed against the name, dipping into the carvings and following every curve to the last.

“At least you’re talking again.” The voice behind her was calm, familiar. Her energy gone, Kanan didn’t turn around, waiting to be approached. Footsteps closed in, and soon a hand found her shoulder. Dia came to sit beside her, posture rigid as always. It felt like they could never get her to slouch after childhood, when the responsibilities of being a Kurosawa heiress sunk in. 

There was a sigh, quiet but not relaxing. If anything, it felt like it was the preparation for something. “Chika has been worried about you.” Kanan nodded, leaning against the other girl. The younger ones could get like that sometimes, but she was always able to brush them off with a few smiles and a promise to meet after work. “She wanted to know if you were coming back to school. She’d really like to see you there, and it would be nice to have someone look after Ruby when you could. And I….” Dia gulped, swallowing the rest of the sentence. Kanan could feel her fidget before stilling, silence flowing in the space around them.

A wind swept through, rustling the grass as they sat. Movement caught her eye, and as she finally looked at the girl, she saw flowers resting in her hands. Of course. Dia would always bring flowers when they came here.

Her eyes closed as she remembered the first time they had gone out to stargaze without their friend. Holding each other tight, both tried to pretend that there wasn’t a warmth missing, a third lover who had not been able to make it. They tried naming stars, Dia even thinking of the most ridiculous ideas to try and replicate what Mari would have done.

In the end, they had both ended up in tears.

She imagined that most would think that Dia was over that, far past the stage of denial, but her visits with Kanan would prove them wrong. She still gripped the grass like there was another hand to hold, still flinched at the breeze that reminded her there wasn’t. She watched the world with the same dull eyes as Kanan, it was just that she was better at hiding it.

The hand on her shoulder retreated stiffly. The other girl must have been steeling herself for the walk home, thinking of some excuse or another to explain why she had gotten back so late. For a terrifying moment, the thoughts of what could happen if Dia left to find her way alone, without any friend to be there, barged into her head. She was quick to grab an arm before the girl could fully stand up.

“Stay.”

Her eyes must have shown the fear she was too tired to hide, because soon they were both back to sitting in front of the grave. Mari’s plane went down because Kanan had forced her forward. If she had let them continue being idols, then there never would have been a plane to catch. A late plane, flying over the ocean, crashing down due to mechanical error. A plane Mari shouldn’t have gotten on. If Kanan had just had the courage to say the words she whispered now…. “Stay.”

Then Mari might have said what Dia mumbled back. “Of course I will.”

And they all might have been happy.

**Author's Note:**

> Forgive the lack of a creative title. I thought it might fit with the ending, but it also reminds me of a song of the same name.  
> Anyway! Hope you enjoyed! I'm happy just knowing you made it to the end, but kudos, comments, and critiques are appreciated!   
> Thank you for reading


End file.
